Marya Jaks and Alek Dragovich are sworn enemies. The beautiful, dark haired gypsy "aberration" carries just enough vampire blood to allow her to detect their presence and the powerful vampire "Drago" knows she will kill him if given the opportunity. On the warm southern night Drago enters Marya's Mississippi home, they are prepared to be repulsed by, not attracted to each other. Marya knows she should be frightened by l'enforcier . Drago's high position in the "Directorate" hierarchy gives him the power to determine her fate, but it is not Drago who wants Marya dead. Her unaccountable attraction to him, fueled by his own attraction to her, complicated by the mystery of who wants both of them dead, forges a deeper alliance between them - one that casts Drago as Marya's protector as well as her lover.

Jaye Roycraft has created a vampire world with unique twists on the genre. Her complex and detailed political hierarchy of the Undead adds texture and layers that help define a basic theme of prejudice. In this second volume of a vampire series begun with DOUBLE IMAGE (currently available) and SHADOW IMAGE (to be released in June, 2002), she leads us into a story of love and betrayal, of bigotry and ruthlessness that mirrors reality. In her version of vampire lore, "dhampir" are offspring of vampire and mortal. Able to detect the Undead, dhampir are efficient vampire killers, hated and feared by the vampire community. Dhampir offspring, like Marya, are known as "aberrations" and frequently lead lonely, self-destructive lives even within their own Rom (gypsy) world.

AFTERIMAGE can be read on its own, without the background contained in DOUBLE IMAGE, but the structure of both vampire and Rom communities is complex enough to warrant reading the series from the first book. It can be difficult to get into all the detail without a complete understanding, but the rich layers Roycraft has created are worth exploring fully. In the "half-breed" world of dhampir and the tainted "aberrations", not to mention the fear and hatred among the Rom for vampires themselves, it is all to easy to see the prejudice in our own world.

If you like the sensual side of vampire lore and want to indulge in a series that promises to detail an international network of vampire politics, you will enjoy AFTERIMAGE. Adding a "multicultural" flavor to vampire lore is an interesting and unique take on the genre that creates depth and increases the tension.